BLACK LIVES
MATTER
#BlackLivesMatter is an
activist movement that started as a simple hashtag on twitter after the
shooting of a teenage boy African American by the name of Trayvon Martin who
was unarmed in 2013. It was co-founded by 3 women Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. In short the
movement is about having a democracy that works for all people equally without
oppressing or discriminating against blacks in communities.
How Social Media benefited #BlackLivesMatter
Nowadays
if you are an activist, politician or just an ordinary human being on the face
of the earth and you feel like getting news out, you just need to choose a
platform. You can just take a video of a protest or any violent thing going on
and post it on Instagram, vine or twitter and it will definitely reach people
out there even those you don’t know.
In
this Black lives Matter movement the social media serves as a source of live,
raw information. The good thing here is that the information cannot be
sugar-coated by corporate media’s. People have come forward by tweeting using
the hashtag by tweeting and retweeting the things that are posted on twitter
and other social networks.
However
we all know that everything has advantages and disadvantages.
·
The
advantages of the use of social media for the #BlackLivesMatter movement
·
People are able to voice out their opinions,
experiences and emotions
·
We can get the information as it happens
immediately.
·
Since the message spreads virally, it can reach
a vast number of people easily.
·
People
are able to take the streets and coordinate their movements in time.
·
We are able to see that there are other people
who share the same tragedies, discriminations and cries with us.
Technology has allowed us to
see that issues of racism and brutality against black people are not that far
from us. They are actually just here close-by.
b) The
Disadvantages of the use of social media for the #BlackLivesMatter movement
·
Even though it has become a success for people
sharing viral videos of police violence, it has also become a place where black
people are abused.
·
People are subject to cyber bullying,
harassment, threats and insults.
·
Many Black Lives Matters leaders are being
monitored on social media by federal law enforcements, this has resulted in
people being scared to say other things on the social networks.
·
Most of the crimes committed online against
people are not taken serious by the law.
·
Other people have also come up with other
movements that are against this specific black lives matter movement.
The use of the social media
has allowed the movement to be world widely recognised in just a few years it
has been established. This has helped the movement gain a lot of support all
over the world. You can read a newspaper article of what they have achieved so far.
very interesting post. was fun to read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for finding it interesting & informative.
DeleteThank you for finding it interesting & informative.
DeleteThought-provoking post. I agree with you that social media has done a great impact of making people aware of #BlackLivesMatter, that people are being abused and unfairly treated out there and nothing is done about it. It is people like you that make a difference by putting it out there that mistreating people is never okay and it needs to stop. I am glad to have read your post.
ReplyDeleteYes finally we can see how people out there are suffering at the hands of the law that should be helping them.
DeleteYes finally we can see how people out there are suffering at the hands of the law that should be helping them.
DeleteYes finally we can see how people out there are suffering at the hands of the law that should be helping them.
DeleteThis hashtag resurrected all that our parents went through during Apartheid and actually brought to light the current treatment of blacks people.
ReplyDeletethe whole movement is strong and it also resonates with us South Africans as we were also victims of such events in the past.
ReplyDeleteYes I can surely say it does relate to the apartheid era in South Africa. Even though I was not there but you can see on Social media people saying it is like what was going on in SA back then.
ReplyDeleteSocial media has helped us to interact with one another, this hashtag has helped us (black people) to voice out our opinions.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you see things the same way as me bro.
Deletesocial media is a lot of things but hashtags like this can bring change in a good way ofcourse
ReplyDeleteYes we should really be thankful to the 3 ladys that came up with this idea
DeleteYes we should really be thankful to the 3 ladys that came up with this idea
DeleteI like how you went about stating the pros and cons of using social media. It clearly indicates that a simple hashtag won't strengthen equality. Racism will always be there. It's life after all.
ReplyDeleteI like how you went about stating the pros and cons of using social media. It clearly indicates that a simple hashtag won't strengthen equality. Racism will always be there. It's life after all.
ReplyDeleteYes people like to believe that racism is an old thing but in fact it is still here and it never went away.
DeleteYes people like to believe that racism is an old thing but in fact it is still here and it never went away.
DeleteYes people like to believe that racism is an old thing but in fact it is still here and it never went away.
Deletethe stand against racism is highly encouraged for all people and this article is a good platform to voice ones opinions
ReplyDeleteYes.. Here you can vent all you want. Say how you feel, anyone is allowed to voice out their opinions.
Delete